10 Questions with Cheryl Kram
The Clinical Services Supervisor for the VNA of Cape Cod on Martha’s Vineyard shares what brought her to Cape Cod Healthcare, her passion for gardening and how one phone call changed her career path.
Life on Martha’s Vineyard has been good to Cheryl Kram, RN, BSN, for the past 40 years.
As Clinical Services Supervisor for the VNA of Cape Cod on Martha’s Vineyard, Kram finds joy in working with her dedicated, caring staff and learning something new every day. “I am honored to be able to provide care to patients in this community and keep them safe in their homes,” says Kram.
Kram, who stepped into her current role more than two years ago, has spent most of her nursing career in home care and inpatient/outpatient care management. She previously worked as the high-risk care manager for the outpatient department at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Kram also helped develop and run an outpatient pain management clinic, still in operation today, with physicians from Mass General Hospital.
The West Tisbury resident commutes 2-1/2 miles to work, where she leads a staff of 12 employees, including nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and social work. She typically starts her shift at 7:30 a.m. and throughout the day manages staff, oversees scheduling and visits patients.
The mother of three, who earned her BSN at Boston College, takes pride in raising her two daughters and one son on the Vineyard, along with her husband, Ken. “Our 35-year-old special-needs daughter has helped us meet all kinds of people and make some good friends,” says Kram, adding there is an amazing support system on Martha’s Vineyard for adults with special needs, including the Vineyard Independence Partnership (VIP). Her other two children live and work nearby—the younger daughter works for the Department of Children and Families in West Barnstable, and her son works for a local contracting company on the Vineyard.
We recently chatted with Kram to learn more about her daily routine, what brought her to Cape Cod Healthcare, her passion for gardening and how one phone call a couple of years ago changed her career path.
1. What was your very first interesting job and what was your big takeaway?
Some of my very first jobs were working at McDonald’s and Friendly’s. But the job that launched me into nursing was working as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home in Stoughton, the town where I grew up. I didn’t grow up in a medical family in any way, shape or form, but in this role I learned that I wanted to help people.
2. How did you end up on the Vineyard?
I responded to an ad in the newspaper for a community health visiting nurse. I was hired and moved here before I got married.
3. What brought you to Cape Cod Healthcare?
I got a call out of the blue one day from a colleague, asking if I was interested in this position. I initially said no. Then she called me again a couple months later—things were changing at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and the timing was perfect. So I said yes.
4. What do you enjoy most about home healthcare?
I love the challenge of having to figure out how to get patients to change what they are doing and how to help them become healthier. It takes time because you have to build relationships. You have to figure out what makes them tick, what their motivation is and what their goals are. That’s what home care is—that piece of, “How do you get someone to change what they’ve been doing for most of their life to improve their overall health?” I have to figure out how to get three doses of meds in you and how that works into your schedule when you’re home. In home care, it’s never boring. We are constantly dealing with people in crisis.
5. What life advice would you give to others?
Live each day to its fullest. You just never know. You might go to the doctor’s office and get a diagnosis that changes your life. When I talk with patients, especially younger ones in hospice, it’s the regret of not having done the things they wanted to do. Try to find joy in every day.
6. What on the horizon are you most excited about?
Planning a trip to Clearwater, Florida, with some friends in February. We haven’t traveled since before Covid, at least not on a plane. We have a place in Northern Maine and that’s my refuge. We get there as often as we can.
7. Favorite binge TV show, book or movie?
I’m mostly into medical or legal dramas. I like “Blue Bloods” and I watch the Food Network. I love to bake when we are up in Maine because we get together with friends up there and don’t have to worry about the leftovers. For Christmas, I usually make decorated sugar cookies. This year, I’m making something different for Christmas, an Italian cream cake, which kind of challenges me a little bit. For Thanksgiving, I made a gingersnap pumpkin cheesecake.
8. If you could have another career, what would it be?
I joke that when I retire, I am going to work in a nursery. I love to garden, and that’s my solace from April to November. I maintain flowers, plants and vegetables. I landscaped the yard, and we keep going. I’m the gardener, the weeder, the planter. We have an acre and half, and most of it is landscaped. It’s that gratification of being in your own zone—you’re weeding, and when you are done, it looks amazing.
9. Who or what is the most important thing to you?
My husband, Ken. We just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. It’s something to be proud of. We were up at our place in Maine, and we renewed our vows at the top of Roberts Mountain with close friends. Twenty-six friends and neighbors threw a surprise party for us that evening. It was beautiful.
10. Where do you like to go on the Vineyard?
My yard is my favorite spot. We have a fire pit, an above-ground swimming pool. Everything I need is there. I am a homebody. Covid for me, was not like, “What I do? Where do I go?” I love my home. I love my property. I love fiddling in my yard or working in my house. My next favorite place is our house up in Maine.
